Eric Slivka
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2008.
An avid swimmer and former biophysicist, Eric has been using Apple products for over 35 years and has been interviewed for pieces by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC, CNBC, and other publications.
Eric's current primary role involves day-to-day oversight of the editorial operations at MacRumors, but he also contributes occasional news and review articles while handling various other duties related to the site's operation.
An avid swimmer and former biophysicist, Eric has been using Apple products for over 35 years and has been interviewed for pieces by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC, CNBC, and other publications.
Eric's current primary role involves day-to-day oversight of the editorial operations at MacRumors, but he also contributes occasional news and review articles while handling various other duties related to the site's operation.
Eric Slivka's Articles
New 15-Inch and 17-Inch MacBook Pro Restricted to Discrete Graphics in Windows
A new support document posted by Apple yesterday notes that the company's new 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models released earlier this week are unable to utilize the Intel HD Graphics package when running in Windows and are thus restricted to using the discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card under such usage. The restriction affects Windows 7, Vista, and XP. Windows cannot take advantage of...
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Apple Considering Adopting AMD Processors for Upcoming Macs?
AppleInsider reports that Apple and AMD are in "advanced discussions" to bring the chipmaker's processors to upcoming Macs, potentially breaking the exclusive relationship Apple has held with Intel since moving away from PowerPC processors in 2006. Representatives for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD have recently been seen on Apple's Commuter Coach buses, and executives for the chipmaker have been ...
Apple Tweaks Serial Number Format With New MacBook Pro
Information Removed at Request of Apple Legal
With the release of refreshed MacBook Pro models earlier this week, Apple has apparently tweaked the format it uses for serial numbers on its devices, moving from an 11-character serial number to a 12-character sequence. For the time being, the change appears to be limited to the 17" MacBook Pro models, and it is unclear why the 13" and 15" models...
iFixit Tears Down the New 15-Inch MacBook Pro, Finds Few Major Changes
Exploded view of new 15" Core i5 MacBook Pro
iFixit yesterday announced that it had completed a teardown of Apple's new 15" Core i5 MacBook Pro released earlier this week. Unsurprisingly, the teardown reveals few significant changes to Apple's well-refined notebook computer, although it does show a number of minor tweaks that point to Apple's continuing evolution of its designs.
AirPort/B ...
Israel Bans Imports of iPads Pending Certification of Wi-Fi Power Output
Israeli newspaper Haaretz notes that the country's Communications Ministry has blocked the import of all iPads into the country pending an assessment of whether the device meets the country's power standards for Wi-Fi signals. In addition, customs officials have been instructed seize the devices from travelers attempting to bring them into the country. "The iPad device sold exclusively today in...
Research Firms Paint Very Different Pictures of First Quarter U.S. Mac Sales
Research firms Gartner and IDC yesterday both released preliminary reports detailing U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for the first quarter of 2010, and the two firms interesting offer very different pictures of Apple's U.S. performance during the quarter.
According to Gartner's report, Apple placed fifth among U.S. computer shipments with an 8.0% market share on unit growth of 34.0% over the...
Questionable Next-Generation iPhone Rear Shell Images Surface [Updated]
We have received a set of images purportedly depicting an iPad-inspired rear shell design for the next-generation iPhone. While we have questions about the validity of the images given their claimed origins and other issues, they are interesting enough that we have decided to publish them here on Page 2 for discussion purposes.
Text on the back of the claimed shell indicate that it is a...
Apple Moves Up to 56th in Fortune 500 Rankings
Fortune today released its 2010 list of Fortune 500 companies, ranking the United States' largest companies by revenues. Apple placed 56th in this year's rankings, up from 71st in last year's edition. Apple's 2009 revenues of approximately $36.5 billion were enough to place it one spot ahead of Disney, which features Apple CEO Steve Jobs as its largest individual shareholder.
With 2009...
Opera Mini Reaches One Million Downloads, Tops Charts Around the World
Opera today announced that its Opera Mini browser for the iPhone and iPod touch, released just days ago, has already surpassed one million downloads and is the #1 downloaded free app in all 22 of Apple's featured country App Stores. Apple said "Yes", and iPhone users around the world said, "Yes, please". Opera Mini was downloaded more than one million times in its first day of availability in...
Ad Agencies Receiving iAd Details as Apple Looks to Hinder Rival Ad Networks
Ilya Vedrashko of advertising agency Hill Holliday yesterday published an interesting blog post discussing a visit to his firm by Apple's iAd team where the parties talked over details of Apple's forthcoming plans for mobile advertising. Among the items discussed in the meeting were Apple's philosophy and approach to targeting consumers, ad pricing, and the user experience.
On the pricing...
iPad to Support USB Audio Interfaces via Camera Connection Kit?
Create Digital Music reports that the iPad may be able to support the use of USB audio interfaces via the Camera Connection Kit offered as an accessory by Apple and set to begin shipping later this month. Such a move would make the iPad much more appealing to music professionals looking for a portable device to interface with their equipment. According to second-hand sources and a post to a...
27-Inch iMac Firmware Updates Address High Processor Usage, Display Backlight, and Target Display Mode Issues
Apple today continues its barrage of updates with the release of a pair of firmware updates for its 27-inch iMac models addressing a trio of issues.
27-inch iMac EFI FW Update 1.0, weighing in at 2.1 MB and requiring Mac OS X 10.6.3, is recommended for all quad-core 27-inch iMacs and addresses a pair of issues related to high processor usage and display backlighting. - Resolves an issue that...
Apple Releases Security Update 2010-003 for Snow Leopard and Leopard
Apple today released a series of security updates targeting users of Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Leopard. According to the support document for the release, the updates address a single vulnerability related to handling of embedded fonts by Apple Type Services. Discovery of the vulnerability is credited to noted cybersecurity researcher Charlie Miller, who last month disclosed his discovery of 20 ...
ABC iPad App Launch Seen as Successful Entry for Television Streaming
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at ABC's application for the iPad ten days after the device's launch, revealing that users have streamed at least part of 650,000 television episodes in what the network deems a very successful launch. The network said that in the 10 days since the iPad's debut, its TV-show watching app has been downloaded 205,000 times, giving the Walt Disney Co. unit a...
Apple Releases Software Update for New 15-Inch and 17-Inch MacBook Pros
Apple yesterday released MacBook Pro Software Update 1.3, bringing improved graphics stability and other bug fixes to the company's new 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models released yesterday. This update is recommended for all 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro mid 2010 models and contains improvements for graphics stability for high-performance video and gaming applications as well as various bug fixes....
Apple Releases MobileMe Backup 3.2
Apple yesterday released MobileMe Backup v3.2, bringing several improvements to MobileMe users who use the application to back up data to their iDisk accounts. Backup 3.2 is recommended for all users of Backup 3. This update improves the reliability of backup restore and uses space more efficiently on your iDisk or local storage (e.g. external hard drive or DVD).Apple provides additional...
Apple Releases Revised Versions of Mac OS X 10.6.3
Apple earlier this week released revised "1.1" versions of Mac OS X 10.6.3 for both standard and server editions. The company has not specified what changes were made in the update, although such changes are typically minor and focus on addressing issues with the update that had gone undetected before launch rather than adding new features.
- Mac OS X v10.6.3 v1.1 Update (Combo) weighs in at...
More Claims of Next-Generation iPhone Launch for June 22nd
A report from ModMyi claiming that Apple may be preparing to launch the next-generation iPhone on June 22nd has been generating some attention despite apparent confusion from a number of rumor sites. According to the report, Apple has booked a venue for the launch on that date. Although no confirmations have yet come from Apple (naturally), there is speculation that the big reveal could take...
Apple Quietly Drops Prices on 4 GB RAM Modules for 27-Inch iMac
New RAM upgrade pricing for 27-inch iMac models
Alongside today's release of refreshed MacBook Pros, Apple also quietly reduced the price of build-to-order upgrades for 4 GB RAM modules in its 27-inch iMacs.
In the United States, upgrading from the standard 4 GB configuration of 2 x 2 GB to an 8 GB configuration of 2 x 4 GB modules now carries a $400 price hike, down from a $600 charge...
Apple Updates MacBook Pro Mini DisplayPort Implementation to Support Both Audio and Video
Ars Technica reports that Apple's new MacBook Pro models released today now support transmission of both audio and video via a single Mini DisplayPort output. The news comes following speculation that Apple might be preparing to release a Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter of its own after a reference to such an adapter appeared in the tech specs for the new MacBook Pro. According to the latest ...
